ICYMI for August 15

It seems Babylon 5 creator and wordsmith J. Michael Straczynski is serious about bringing a reboot of his sci-fi epic to the big screen, so much so that if no studio is willing to back it, he’ll finance it himself. The plan is to release the film in 2016 with an all-new cast, though JMS hasn’t ruled out using original cast members in other roles. As a huge fan of the series, I can say I would seriously consider camping out for this one.

Last week, Twitch deployed an update to their platform that would scrub copyrighted audio from archived videos. Well, it seems that update worked too well, resulting in silenced commentary and muted game music. In response, Twitch CEO Emmett Shear has apologized for the errors and announced that streamers will be able to file appeals should their videos be affected. Shear also announced that there are no plans to scrub audio from live streams.

You had a blast playing the recent beta of Destiny, putting a lot of time and effort into leveling up your Guardian, hoping you could pick up where you left off once the full game launches. Sadly that won’t be the case. Due to numerous tweaks between the Beta build of Destiny and the final edition, the characters wouldn’t be compatible, so they were given the heave-ho, claims Bungie. Look on the bright side, though, you should know Old Russia backwards and forwards now.

In a recent beta update for Steam, Valve has reportedly added some new application types to the service: TV, film, video, music, and plugin. The move should broaden the appeal of SteamOS and Steam Machines, giving them multimedia capabilities found in most consoles. It’s certainly exciting; given Steam’s expansive library of games, could the same happen for music and TV shows?

Gamers of old, rejoice! Sierra Entertainment, the name behind classic titles such as King’s Quest, Police Quest, and (ahem) Leisure Suit Larry, is back! The reborn developer has two goals, the first is reviving some of their beloved franchises like King’s Quest, which is under development by The Odd Gentlemen and slated for a 2015 release. The studio will also scour the globe for indie talent, with a reimagining of Geometry Wars as their first offering.

It was 10 years ago Wednesday that Adam Curry released the first episode of Daily Source Code, ushering in a new era of content delivery. If you’re feeling nostalgic, visit the link above, where you can listen to the very first episode of DSC and also read about some of the challenges facing podcasters today.